Friday, November 04, 2005

A Learned Judge…

A bitch took a moment yesterday to review the comments made to my brief little write-up on Salon.com. Usually, my ass wouldn’t care but something made me look. This bitch was curious to see if Salon.com readers would have the same kind of discussion that blogger folks have.

Well, the comments were certainly interesting and lengthy. Folks clearly gave a great deal of thought to their take on a bitch’s reaction to Alito’s nomination. My ass was struck by one particular exchange over my wish to have regular folks be nominated to the Supreme Court.

Basically, the writer put forth the argument that society benefits from having seasoned and “learned” folks in positions of power. A bitch read on and this certain individual felt that regular bitches, like the ABB, would be eaten alive by the great minds of the current Justices.

Fascinating!

A bitch wasn’t insulted that this writer assumed that this bitch wasn’t a “learned” individual…loyal readers will know that a bitch’s ego doesn’t bruise easily.

Okay…a bitch has to admit that high handed attacks on my intellectual skills do rub me wrong, but only because my ass is still paying off a HUGE balance for that $120,000 gilded assed college education scored years ago outside of Boston. Shit…who wouldn’t be a wee bit sensitive? They are bleeding a bitch dry!

Anyhoo, what a bitch was disturbed by was the assertion that only the learned are fit to lead or judge. Having walked the hallowed halls of an elite educational institution, this bitch has seen more than my share of lofty intellectuals holding on for dear life to those ivy covered walls out of a fear of the unwashed masses seeking power.

This is the Constitution of the United States of America. It is a document drafted by ordinary men who had risen to accomplish extraordinary things. The Constitution, in its original form, was flawed. That was fine, because the folks that wrote it never intended it to be bronze and put on a display behind bulletproof glass.

A bitch met a wonderful man while attending my lofty college in New England. He was almost 90 years old and was a preacher at a small historically black church in the Berkshires. We sat and chatted while the autumn leaves fell like a soft rain around us. He talked about his struggle with illiteracy and how he finally learned to read at the age of 65. It was, he said, his greatest achievement next to accepting God’s love into his heart.

A bitch was amazed to learn that he learned how to read by using the Constitution.

When my ass asked him why, he said…"Because everyone should be able to read and understand the Constitution of the United States.”

A bitch pressed him…"Why not the bible?”

And he answered…"You can know and love God and not know how to read a single word of the bible. I moved onto the bible after I got that Constitution down right!”

“How did you preach without knowing how to read?”

“Child, the word of God is a living thing and we used to speak it far more than read it. We shouted it during the good times and chanted it during the darkest days.”

This bitch later learned that this man had basically memorized the New Testament. Being a bitch, of course my ass tested him and damn me to hell if he didn’t have the darn thing down!

A bitch took from a lot this meeting and my ass references it often.

For the purposes of this post, my ass mentioned it because of the words he left me with.

He took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and slowly, in the way of older people, opened it up. It was a battered copy of the Constitution…torn and stained.

This was a document well used and well understood. This man knew it, took it out and read it often.

“My bible is just as worn and tattered. If a written word is important a person should read it until it falls apart.”

This bitch thought the Constitution never looked better than when is was clutched in those aged brown hands…living in his vivid mind and quoted with authority and great understanding through his wise lips.

So, in response to a certain Salon.com comment, a bitch would simply say…the Constitution is our document, not just the learned and well educated...all Americans.

Who better to apply it than the citizens it was written to inspire and protect?

7 comments:

ABB, I completely agree that we all should OWN the constitution--literally and metaphorically. We should be able to know what it says, why it says it, what its powers are and what its limitations are. I have a copy in my bag at all times. But I do take a little issue with this comment:

"This is the Constitution of the United States of America. It is a document drafted by ordinary men who had risen to accomplish extraordinary things." The men who drafted the constitution were not ordinary in most senses. They were of wealth and of class (white men with land). Sure, they were straggly-ass colonists, but they weren't "ordinary" men. Weren't they all pretty well-educated (given education practices of the time)? that's a real question..I'm not sure.

Of course, having a higher education doesn't make one necessarily extraordinary (Bush is a great example)... but the ability to understand the constitution is not the only important requirement for understanding constitutional law...which is its own beast.

You might find this cool . . . when my husband was commissioned as an officer in the US Navy, he was given (along with all the other new officers) a pocket-sized Constitution. He had just sworn to protect it, and I guess they figured he ought to have a copy handy.

I think that's the coolest gift ever. He's retiring this June after 20 years and has applied to law school. I'm very proud of him!

I love the post, it covered a lot of issues. As for the regular folks being nominated for whatever, well it depends on who is doing the nominating. Lest not forget Michael Brown, FEMA, disasterous hurricane relief, horse judge. And any "learned" folks in positions of power in this administration is only going to be close friends, cronies to bush or friends of a friend, of a friend that know Georgie. Maybe in 2006 or 2008 we can get some regular folks in position if WE as Americans get up off our ass and make a change. Keep it real g/f! Loved the story about the old man and God's word.